With some electrical connectors, large forces are required to mate and unmate a connector with an associated connector because the connectors have a large number of terminals. Consequently, low-insertion-force connectors have been developed which enable mating and unmating with small forces by means of an operating lever. A typical lever-type electrical connector includes a first connector which has an actuating lever rotatably or pivotally mounted thereon for connecting and disconnecting the connector with a complementary mating second connector. The actuating lever and the second connector typically operate through some form of cam groove/cam follower arrangement for drawing the second connector into mating condition with the first connector in response to rotation of the lever. One type of structure for a lever-type electrical connector is to provide a generally U-shaped lever structure which has a pair of lever arms that are disposed on opposite sides of the first (“actuator”) connector.
In the above-mentioned lever-type connector, it often is difficult if at all possible to confirm whether or not the connector is fully mated with the second or complementary mating connector. Even if initially connected, in some applications such as vehicular or automotive applications, the connectors may become detached from each other by severe vibrations or the like. The present invention is directed to solving these problems in a lever-type electrical connector by employing a connector position assurance (CPA) member slidably mounted directly on the lever structure, the CPA member not only detecting a fully mated condition of the connector, but the CPA member also locks the lever structure in its mated position.